Japanese researchers have found that the time of year a child is conceived affects how they metabolize fat. Specifically, children conceived in the winter had more brown fat, which helps maintain thermoregulation, and healthier fat metabolism, which is associated with a lower risk of obesity.
This suggests that exposure to cold temperatures before conception may determine the risk of future metabolic disorders in children. Research published in the journal Nature Metabolism.
The researchers recruited 356 young, healthy men and measured the amount of brown fat they retained into adulthood. They also measured their body mass index, daily energy expenditure, cold tolerance and visceral fat, the fat around the organs. They compared this data with information on the time of conception, which was defined as 266 days before birth.
As it turned out, the body mass index and body fat content were influenced by the time of year the child was conceived, but not by the month of birth. The main factor affecting the amount and activity of brown adipose tissue in adults was temperature fluctuations at the time of conception. And the activity of brown adipose tissue mediated the effect of environmental temperature at the time of conception on such signs of obesity as an increase in body mass index and visceral fat content. This was confirmed by a larger study on 286 healthy volunteers of different ages and sexes.
Scientists believe that exposure to low temperatures can trigger the activation of genes in eggs or sperm that are responsible for adaptations for better thermoregulation. When these genes are passed on to the child, it also adapts better to the cold through the activation of brown adipose tissue. And the greater energy expenditure and less fat accumulation around the organs are associated precisely with the use of fats by brown adipose tissue to generate heat.
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